Tenniscoats - We Are Everyone Tenniscoats

Tenniscoats are one of the greatest groups of the 21st Century. They dazzle light into the void so that others can find a way through. First time on vinyl for one of their key early records, We Are Everyone.

A dream come true for A Colourful Storm to be releasing an early gem by Tenniscoats, a duo whose DIY spirit, boundless creativity and lust for life and collaboration has left an indelible mark. From self-releasing albums and tapes on their own Majikick imprint to meeting kindred spirits The Pastels, Bill Wells and Jad Fair in between outings for Morr Music, Chapter and Häpna, to name a few, Tenniscoats have embodied an understated determination and optimism for over two decades.

"A foghorn melodica, voice, fractions, fragments, nothing and everything all at once. We Are Everyone opens out slowly, a little eerily, magic tumbles into play in well measured rations. Meanwhile on the cover, Saya and Ueno’s heads seem to merge into the sky, as if living amongst the wisdom of the clouds. Or maybe somewhere between sleep and reality, like Ueno’s description of Tenniscoats' music.

When We Are Everyone came out in 2004 it was partially a looping back for us - Kenji Sekioka of Rover Records, who co-released it, had introduced us to The Hallelujahs on The Pastels third visit to Japan in 1998. Rover had re-released their only record which I became obsessed with. The Hallelujahs led to Maher Shalal Hash Baz, and Maher in turn to Tenniscoats who were members of the lineup that we knew first-hand from playing with us in Scotland, and then recording Blues Du Jour for our Geographic Music label.

One day at lunch, Tori, who loves a practical joke, asked me to speak to Saya and call her Saya-chan which is affectionate but maybe like you’d talk to a younger person. Saya looked a bit shocked - I’m not sure the joke landed as well as he hoped but he still took great delight in it. Saya and Ueno brought a lot of skill and energy to the Blues Du Jour recording session - they were very easy to be around and we became close friends. They were both very big fans of Maher and respectful to Tori but not in awe of him. 

Tenniscoats own music had a bit less chaos around it - like Maher it was adventurous and original but the structures had a more recognisable solidity. They would send us their records as they came out, often on their own Majikick label. I remember I included The Ending Theme on a mix tape that was always playing in our kitchen. While we were coming to grips with Tenniscoats and their industrious output they were already on to the next thing.

We Are Everyone was recorded between 2002 and 2003, a switch to digital recording allowing multiple takes but also sometimes lost data, lost takes. Both Saya and Ueno refer to it as their most difficult record to make. Saya: “Once we went to friend’s studio in the mountain in the middle night. I tried to play piano and sing again and again alone on Sea of Japan. Ueno waited in the car in front of the river, because It was so cold (zero degrees) with no heater there. The next day, we tried Take Me Home many times and finally succeeded! But we unplugged the recorder accidentally and everything was lost.”.

We Are Everyone is one of those records where you almost feel engulfed in its making - you’ feel like you’re in the room with Tenniscoats as they push themselves to the limit trying to make the very best record they can. It uses very little reverb, it’s all about people playing in a room or on location. A few years later when we had the privilege of working with them on our Pastels / Tenniscoats collaboration, Two Sunsets, we had a strong sense that they like things documentary, Cinéma vérité style.

When We Are Everyone came out it was a very different time - it chimed with an open-mindedness, an almost naive optimism that things would inevitably improve. The language of it is hopeful, socialist. Ueno: “It was Saya who came up with the title, but perhaps she felt that equality applied not only to humans, but also to animals, plants, and maybe even minerals.”. 

I always think that Tenniscoats have so much humanity about them. But it’s more than that - it’s complicated, a way of knowing our place in things, a way of being, a universal consciousness. They’re resilient - dazzling light into the void so that others can find a way through.". 

Stephen Pastel, Glasgow 2026